Mountings for movable wall panels



R. C. SLOAN MOUNTINGS FOR MOVABLE WALL PANELS Nov. 5, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 24, 1955 A Q I INVENTOR flzchard C. Sloan Nov. 5, 1957 R. c. SLOAN MOUNTINGS FOR MOVABLE WALL PANELS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2' Filed Aug. 24, 1955 M QWN INV ENT OR 810 an liidzard C.

W a WW Nov. 5, 1957 r R. c. SLOAN 2,811,739

mouu'rmcs FOR MOVABLE WALL PANELS Filed Aug. 24, 1955 i s Sheets-Sheet s 65 INVENTOR Richard 0.810321 ATTORNEY United States This invention relates to building structures and is more particularly concerned with the provision of means for mounting a door, wall section, or other wall panel so that it can be moved in parallelism. Parallelism, as used herein, refers to movement of :an object so that every position thereof is constrained to lie in a plane parallel to the plane of every other position of the object.

The general object of the invention is the provision of such means which is simple in construction and which can be utilized with relative ease and inexpensiveness.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such means in which the direction of motion of the panel is either at right angles to the permanent plane of the wall or at an angle thereto.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device of the type mentioned which has particular adaptability to classrooms for conserving classroom space and increasing storage space adjacent the classroom itself without, sacrificing the customary display and blackboard facilities, while, in fact, making it possible to increase such facilities for any given wall area of a classroom.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of such means which can be used for increasing utilizable space in schools, offices, hospitals, libraries, gymnasiums, locker rooms, storage rooms, and other places.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description considered together with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a hanger member comprising an embodiment of the invention as it appears attached to a wall panel member.

Fig. 2 is a rear end view of the embodiment, partly broken away.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view on a smaller scale showing a group of the hanger members connected together and special bracket means therefor.

' Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but on a smaller scale to include the entire wall panel member and bottom support rollers, the door being in a partially opened position. P Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the parts shown in ig. 4; I

atent Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a motor actuated embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a face view of a type of Wall switch for use with the embodiment of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a schematic plan view of a special diagonal form of mounting.

Referring with more particularity to the drawing in which like numerals designate like parts, the embodiment illustrated comprises a vertical mounting plate 11 provided with apertures 12, for the reception of screws 13 or other suitable means for securing it to the back of a wall panel 14, which may be a door, a wall section, or other panel member.

To the back of the plate 11 there is secured a bracket in the form of a pair of angles 15 and 16 having a pair of members 17 and 18 in parallel spaced relation to each other projecting rearwardly from the plane of the plate. The front portions of these angles are secured to the "plate 11 by welding or by any other suitable means.

I. Projecting rearwardly from the top of the plate His 21 horizontal rack gear, 19 havingits rack teeth 20 along .i sb tt m i e...v The. fo ward. e d nfthe c g a s. di

posed between the members 17 and 18 and is permanently secured thereto by welding or by any other suitable means.

The lower end of the bracket 15, 16 is welded or otherwise secured to the forward end of a bracing bar 21. The bar 21 projects rearwardly and upwardly to a point near, but below, the rear end of the rack gear 20. It then curves upwardly forming a bight or curved portion 22 and thence upwardly to contact the rack gear 20 to which it is permanently secured, such as by welding, the purpose of which will be described hereinafter.

The rear end of the rack gear 20 also carries a pair of rollers 23 and 24. These rollers straddle the rack gear and are rotatably supported on the ends of an axle 25 passing through the rack, substantially as shown.

The rack and rollers together are disposed in a horizontal trackway 26 which is conveniently fabricated of an upper longitudinal channel 27 having a horizontal web section 28 and side portions 29 and 30. An elongated L-shaped member 31 and a correspondingly reversed L-shaped member 32 are welded to the side portions 29 and 319, respectively, :as shown, forming the trackway space between the web section 28 and the horizontal portions 33 and 34 of said members 31 and 32, for the reception of the rollers 23 and 24. The width of the portions 33 and 34 is such as to leave a space therebetween in the form of an elongated slot for the slidable movement of the rack gear 20 therein longitudinally.

Within the forward end of the trackway, there is disposed a pressure disc 35 having a smooth side 36 in slidable contact with the top surface 37 of the rack gear 20. A threaded shaft 38 has its lower end secured to the top of the disc 35 and its upper end is threadedly engaged with a boss 39 at the top of the channel web section 28. The upper end of this threaded shaft 38 is also provided with a nut 40 as a releasable locking means to hold the shaft and hence the disc 35 in adjusted positions relative to the rack gear 20. By these means the rack gear is maintained in meshed relation with the hereinafter described pinion gear 41.

Beneath the front end of the trackway there is disposed a pinion gear 41 in meshed relation with the rack gear 20. The pinion gear is secured to a shaft 42 for rotation therewith, and the said shaft is rotatably mounted in bearings 43 and 44 on either side. The bearings are held in position by any suitable means, such as shackles 45 and 46, respectively, secured 'to brackets 47 and 48, respectively, by means of bolts 49. The brackets 47 and 48 are secured by welding or otherwise, to the members 31 and 32; Flexible couplings 50 are also provided for connecting together two or more longitudinally aligned shafts 42.

Angle brackets 51 are provided at the front, rear, and midsection of the device for securing it to a ceiling 52 or other horizontal support by means of screws or bolts 53. However, in cases where it is inconvenient to secure the device directly to a horizontal surface, it may be secured to a vertical surface as shown in Fig. 3, by means of a special type of hanger bracket comprising a vertical plate 54 for securing directly against the vertical surface, and arms 55 projecting therefrom diagonally or otherwise, as needed, to the angle brackets 51, as maybe necessary.

In any particular installation, at least two of these devices should be used for a given panel, the pinion gear shafts being connected together with the flexible couplings. This will insure the fact that the movement of the panel will alwaysbe constrained topositions ofparallelisrn.

' The flexibility .of thecouplings makes it .unnecessary to the. Pane s. lustratesi theslrauinsls rfiend es shafts .42. v

To relieve stresses onthe panel and the mounting members, floor rollers 56 may be secured to the bottom of have highly precise, longitudinal alignments of ,the

57- orother similar devicesmay be. attached to. the panel to facilitate manually moving the panel outwardly and inwardly. Instead of moving the panels manually, an electric servomotor 513 may' be mounted on one of the devices, asshownin Fig. 6,-a'nd g'eared'to the pinion gear shaft by gears 59 and 60, or by any other suitable means. Actuationof the'motorin one" direction will result inthe panel movingoutwardand actuation-in the opposite direction will move the' panel backward. Motor control is effected bya'wallswitch 61" (see Fig. 7) having an out button 62, an in button 63 and a stop button 64. Limit switches (n'otshown) may also be used to limit the relative movement of' therack gear and trackway. The limit of extension; however, is otherwise fixed by theabutme'nt of thebight portion 22 against the pinion gear 41.

The inventionisparticularlyuscful in classrooms and results in the increased utilization of classroom space. Desks can beplaced'close to a wide'door or wall panel, much, closer than theyc'o'uld be placed to the door or panel if it were hinged, withoufcreating any traffic bottlenecks when children are entering or leaving the room. Itmakes it easier for supervisors to maintain an orderly mass withdrawal of children from the classroom during emergencies, fire and'civil defense drills, or at the end of a class period, particularly when such mass withdrawals require the collection by the pupils of their belongings from the closet or space behind thepanel or door. A line of recession, for example, can be formed through one end andout the other. Due to the fact that the limitations of a swinging door or doors are not present, the doors or panelsof the present invention can be made as wide as desired, hence providing closet space which is limited only by the size of the particular room.

In cases where it is desired to provide a closetspace or recessed wall area adjacent a corner of a room, and yet maintain a condition-formoving persons unidirectionally, in one end and out the other, the hanger devices may be installed as shown in-Fig. 8 at a horizontal angle to the wall panel 65 adjacent a side wall 66. For this purpose, the vertical plate'll of each device is set at a horizontal angle to the rack gear 19 and bar 21, while the pinion gear 41 is in a plane at right angles tothe panel 65 and the-teeth of the rack gear are parallel to the teeth ofthe pinion gear. This permits the shafts 42 to remain parallel to the'panel 66 and to be connected together with the flexible couplings 50, as in the previously described embodiments. Consequently, when the wall panel 65 is pulledout, it moves-in a diagonal direction and yet is constrained to parallelism motion.

The space on the front'face of the panels may be used for corkboards orchalk-bo'ardsto atford additional space for pupil participation in blackboard exercises or display boards for classroom work.

The back of the panels may be provided with shelves for books or other storage'items, hooks for garments, etc., that would be conveniently accessible to a person walking along the inside of the panel after the panel has been pulled out.

Where projectors are used as a visual teaching aid, the projector screen may be mounted on a panel of this type whereby the parallelismmovement provides an additional amount of adjustment between the screen and its projector.

In addition to classroom uses, the invention also has general utility to provide enlarged storage and/ or temporary dressing space in an efiiciency apartment, a doc tors otfice, locker rooms, warehouses, archives, libraries, etc.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A hanger device comprising a vertical panel mounting plate, a horizontal rack gear secured to the plate, means for attaching the plate to a horizontally'movable verticalpanel member, members-forming a longitudinal trackway for slidably" supporting said rack gear, means for supporting said trackway'in a horizontal'position, a

pinion. gear rotatably connected to said forming members, said pinion gear being in meshed relation with said rack gear, means rotatably supporting the pinion gear on the forming members in meshed relation with the rack gear, a shaft secured for rotation with said pinion gear, and meansfor coupling said shaft to'the corresponding shaft of a similar door hanger device.

2. A hanger device comprising a horizontal rack gear, means for securing said rack gear to a horizontally movable vertical panel member, membcrs forming a longitudinal track to slidably support said rack gear, means for supporting said trackway in a horizontal position and means for securing the trackway in a stationary position relative to the rack 'gear, a pinion gear rotatably carried by said forming members, a shaft secured for rotation with said pinion gear, means rotatably supporting the pinion gear on the forming members inmeshed relation with the rack gear, and means for coupling said shaft to the corresponding shaft of a similar door hanger device.

3. In combination, a horizontally movable vertical panel member, a plurality of hanger devices each having a rack gear and means securing the rack gears to the panel, members forming longitudinal stationary trackways for slidably supporting said rack gears, means for supporting said trackway horizontally, a rotatable pinion gear stationary with the trackways for each of said rack gears, means rotatably supporting the pinion gears on the forming members in meshed relation with the rack gears, and means for coupling said pinion gears together for simultaneous rotation.

4. The combination as defined by claim 3 in which the rack gear of each device is disposed in a horizontal plane at right angles to the panel.

5. The combination as defined by claim 3 in which the rack gear ofeach device is disposed in a horizontal plane at an angle to the panel-other than 6. A-hanger device comprising a vertical plate, a horizontal rack gear, means for securing one end of said rack gear to an upper part of the plate, a bracing bar having one end thereof secured to the rack gear and the other endsecured-to a lower part of said plate, members forming, a longitudinal trackway for slidably supporting said rack gear, means supporting said trackway horizontal- 1y, apinion gear, and means rotatably supporting the pinion gear on said forming members in meshed relation with the rack gear.

7. A hanger device as defined by claim 6 and a roller carried by the rack gear for engaging the trackway.

8. A hanger device as defined by claim 6 in which the forming members include a member in contact with the rack gear to hold it in engagement with the pinion gear.

9. A hanger device as defined by claim 8 and means for adjusting the position of the contact member relative to therack' gear.

10. A hanger device comprising a vertical plate, a horizontal rack gear, means for securing one end of said rack gear to an upper part of the plate, a bracing bar for said rack gear extending from a bottom part of the plate to the opposite end of the rack gear, members forming. a longitudinal trackway for slidably supporting said rack gear, means for supporting the trackway in a horizontal position, a pinion gear, and means on the forming members to rotatably support said pinion gear in meshed relation with the rack gear, said bracing bar having. aportion thereof in alignment with said pinion gear to abut it when the rack gear is in a predetermined position of extension relative to the trackway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,212g043' Freeman Ian. 9, 1917 1,252,867 Wall Jan. 8, 1918 1,405,315 Moore Jan. 31, 1922 2,307,599 Monroe Jan. 5, 1943 

